Three Turkish F-16 fighter jets carried out airstrikes against three Islamic State targets in Syria.  The crews were careful not to violate Syrian airspace during the retaliatory strikes and launched their payloads while the planes were north of the border.

A Turkish government official confirms the jets took off from Diyarbakir airbase in the country’s southeast early Friday, and used smart bombs to hit three IS targets across the Turkish border province of Kilis.  They targeted two command centers and a gathering point of IS supporters.

The decision to attack came in a security meeting on Thursday, in which officials discussed the Islamic State attack that killed a Turkish soldier.  Any thought that Turkey would not strike at IS rapidly disintegrated after Monday’s suicide bombing in Suruc that killed at least 32 people.

The violence also led Turkey to lift its ban on manned missions against Islamic State by the US and its coalition allies.